Why the Crow?
Kichi glares. “What are you so proud of, hollering like that?”
She's addressing the Shadow Mercenary's spirit, the shadow crow.
“Do you even know how many empty searches this makes already, birdbrain?”
They'd tracked all the way here following the shadow crow's memories.
How utterly unreliable must things be for her to rely on a birdbrain to get around...
Not at all befitting the face of the underworld's undisputed ruler.
“Hoo.”
But there was no other way.
Right now, on the continent, the only one who knew the full truth of that day was that crow.
“Hurry up and eat. No time to waste.”
Spirits transparently reflect the nature of their group.
If the Akkshan wolf embodied the unyielding spirit of Akkshan against any foe, the shadow crow was even more thorough than the Shadow Mercenaries when it came to deals.
Swoosh─
Kichi swept her long black hair to one side, and the shadow crow dove toward her nape.
Then it began pecking at the back of her neck with its beak.
“...Tch.”
This gross sensation never got any easier to stomach.
Since the crow itself was an insubstantial spirit, no wound remained.
Instead, it simply took life force as payment for the deal.
Kichi shook her head, restoring her hair.
“You'd better not come up empty again this time.”
Was trusting the birdbrain the mistake? Or was it that the underworld hadn't lost its初心 even as the Arcana continent flipped upside down?
It had been days already with zero gains.
“This damn...”
In the end, another bust.
Frustrated, she scratched at her head for a moment before glaring at the crow.
It sure looked like the birdbrain was toying with her on purpose.
“You're doing this deliberately, aren't you?”
Kichi was self-aware, too.
“What, you don't like me or something?”
Maybe she was the least Shadow Mercenary-like leader in the group's history...
And maybe it wasn't so strange for the Shadow Mercenary's spirit, the shadow crow, to dislike that about her.
Kichi's lips twisted into a crooked grin.
“If that's it, you should've just said so sooner.”
Shing!
Caw─?
Kichi drew her dagger, and the crow flinched, hopping back.
But the dagger wasn't aimed at the shadow crow.
It was at her own nape—more precisely, her long trailing hair.
Snip─
Kichi's hand didn't hesitate.
She unceremoniously cut her black hair to a short bob.
She tossed the clump right in front of the shadow crow.
“Life force? This stuff regrows in a day. Pathetic.
You said it yourself—a deal's no good if it's not something precious to the giver, right?
I might look unlikeable, but I'm still the leader. I know the Shadow Mercenaries' twisted mindset all too well.”
The Shadow Mercenaries were rotten to the core.
Just flipping through the old request ledgers made it obvious.
They'd done every kind of irredeemably evil deed imaginable...
By cutting off her most precious hair—something she'd grown for years—Kichi had given the crow exactly what it wanted.
“Years growing this shit...”
Murderous intent flickered in Kichi's eyes.
“Don't spill a single strand. Eat it all. And tell me straight.”
Caw!
“Where the auction pigs are hiding.”
Peck peck peck─
Only after devouring every last hair did the shadow crow perk up and take flight energetically.
Kichi thought to herself,
Sly birdbrain. Gotta pluck those feathers and deep-fry 'em someday.
At least it was a relief.
'What're you up to anyway, Wolf?'
That Wolf, who'd taken over as leader, hadn't called the shadow crow even once.
Thanks to that, the crow still recognized Kichi as its leader and obeyed her.
Kichi reached habitually to touch her hair, then hesitated at the emptiness.
'Expensive price tag on that birdbrain.'
If she'd been a regular member, hair would've sufficed as extra payment.
Had it known she was a deserter, not even a member...
It might've demanded decades of lifespan instead.
Kichi shrugged.
'In that sense, I'll be generous.'
She let go of any attachment to the severed hair.
'If you find that one.'
But her obsession with the 'other hair' she'd been hunting for days lingered strong.
The situation struck Kichi as laughable, even to herself.
“...Not the time to worry about others. What the hell am I doing?”
Orc Auction.
As advertised, an auction house run by orcs.
As the underworld's ruler, no one knew the orcs' place in it better than Kichi.
Orc strength dwarfed dozens of humans; their vitality clung tougher than weeds in a wheat field.
Arm hacked off? A new one sprouted in weeks.
And contrary to rumors, their intelligence matched humans'—just look at running an auction house.
The problem was their appearance, ugly enough to make any race forget superiority.
But orcs were clever.
They never tried mingling in Arcana's daylight; instead, they leveraged strengths in the shadows, expanding influence by any means.
“So they bought it without fear.”
Kichi checked the transaction ledger.
The 'other hair' she sought hadn't sold at public auction.
Right before bidding, the orc auction hosts bought it direct—for a thousand times the starting bid.
That was why Kichi was hunting the Orc Auction.
“Hid deep, unlike you lot.”
Fee-skimming orcs wouldn't balk at the gold.
Underworld coin hoards defied imagination.
In Arcana, dirty gold outnumbered clean anyway.
Hiding made sense.
'No reason to step up.'
Orcs were rich, capable of protecting it.
No cause to defend the continent either.
Building an underground city was wise.
Except one thing.
“But touching that hair? Mistake.”
Caw─
The mine entrance looked unremarkable.
If not for the green-skinned orcs guarding it.
Kichi started forward, then halted.
Damn, better avoid a fuss for now...
Thud thud.
Footsteps unusual for such a remote spot.
Kichi turned toward the sound and froze in surprise.
Why's someone like that wandering alone in a dump like this...?
Face veiled.
Long white robes trailing.
Anybody could see: a holy sister.
Veiled confirmed it.
Fearless? Overly devout?
Roaming Arcana alone.
Kichi shook her head.
'Not my problem.'
She raised her dagger.
“Fragile, weak, sloppy drunk, overly emotional me's gotta infiltrate an orc-packed mine solo.”
Any Shadow Mercenary would've scoffed at the joke.
No conviction in her words.
And she didn't seem keen on convincing herself either.
Thud thud.
No sneaking.
Kichi approached the mine openly.
“!!”
The guarding orcs reacted instantly.
Clank!
Weapons raised—then shock at her face.
“Isn't that... Shadow Mercenary Leader Kichi?”
Utterly deferential.
Even orcs dominating Arcana's underworld.
Shadow Mercenaries' influence spanned beyond shadows to the light.
And here was their leader, dagger drawn, marching straight at them.
Politeness inevitable.
“S-sorry! Your look changed so much from before, we didn't recognize right away. Deepest apologies!”
“That mean I've aged while you weren't looking?”
“N-no! Just the hair's shorter...!”
“Wrong. Strike two.”
“...!!”
She's in a foul mood. No point talking more. Business first.
Orcs swiftly lowered weapons, spoke up.
“Any message, we'll relay to superiors immediately!”
“Tell Ullichu I've got the item he's after.”
“Auction's closed now, but... for you, Kichi, he'll surely agree. We'll pass it on right away.”
“One more thing to add?”
“Of course.”
“Circumstances mean I can't pay a single gold coin.”
“...Are you short on funds?”
“Nah. That bastard's pride.”
...Pride what now?
The orc's face seemed to green further at Kichi's words.
Orcs, who trusted nothing but gold.
Found the item, but won't pay a coin.
Now it clicked why she'd drawn her weapon out of nowhere.
'Stingy old fart Ullichu won't sit still...'
The orc soldier squeezed his eyes shut.
'Damn. Bloodstorm incoming.'
*
Goddess Church.
Reincarnation Tribe affiliate.
Saintess, Freyja.
Freyja pressed on toward the darkness's origin without pause.
The Empire's landscapes felt alien.
Long years had passed, no doubt.
Yet her vacant eyes lingered on nothing.
She simply stepped forward to purify the darkness blanketing Arcana—and the immeasurable sorrow—in the goddess's name.
“...”
At last, a familiar sight entered view.
The Empire's capital, Antonium.
There, Freyja clasped her hands in prayer.
“Guided by the goddess, I have reached this place.”
Freyja took a soft breath.
The darkness seemed born in Antonium.
Antonium surely lay in ruins.
The emotions leaking from the darkness exceeded human endurance.
Its citizens, exposed closer to denser sorrow...
Freyja continued.
“Goddess, shelter these pitiful souls.”
She gripped tight her pendant etched with the Goddess Church's octagonal emblem.
Approaching Antonium, the source might strike anytime.
She had to prepare to judge at any moment.
Yet something was off.
“Open the gates!”
A booming voice from Antonium's ramparts.
A guard's.
No trace of sorrow or despair.
“Why, a Goddess Church sister! With even Muon in chaos, traveling the continent alone? Glad you're safe, at least!”
Guided by the guard, Freyja entered Antonium.
And confronted it.
A landscape so far from her expectations it felt surreal.
“From the countryside, huh? Out of touch with the world.”
“Well, countryside it is. If short on change...”
“No, no! Short? Who pays gold for three folks' meals?! Surely from the western continent... where'd you say?”
“Maxima territory.”
“Right, Maxima! Don't know it, but envy those merchants. A month? Two days' trade there'd let commoners like us eat and play forever.”
Bustling beyond lively—rowdy.
Outsiders, not locals, dotted the crowds.
No different from the Antonium in Freyja's memories.
If anything,
“Anyway, no small change for gold now or ever. Just go. We can do silver. Come back when your gold's worth silver.”
“Isn't that credit? Can't burden...”
“Burden what?! Knights in gold armor skipping meal tabs? Our dog'd laugh!”
An disarmingly gentle aura overflowed.
Hard to believe deep darkness had blanketed here.
But Freyja had no leisure to seek reasons.
“...!”
It was drawing nearer.
Coming to her on its own.
The darkness's origin.
Grip─
Puzzled, Freyja clutched her pendant.
Soon, she faced the darkness.
Its form didn't register clearly.
Veiled eyes.
Yet somehow, with the source revealed,
Cheers erupted from the citizens instead.
Freyja murmured,
“Goddess. Do not lead me into trial.”
Before judgment, spare me confusion.
She prayed.
At once, her pendant became the goddess's mace.
She had to judge the darkness that would someday plunge the continent into deep sorrow.
In the goddess's name.
Why...?
The pendant remained unchanged.
No divine power infused it.
The goddess hadn't answered her prayer.
Freyja gazed beyond the veil at the darkness's origin with trembling eyes.
No—not quite darkness itself.
A man radiating excessively brilliant light.
.
.
.
Regrettably.
Your goddess.
Seems to like me more than you?
[Religion, Affinity with Goddess Church has reached maximum.]
-“I don't believe in God.”
-“No solid evidence it exists.”
-“But no solid evidence it doesn't exist either.”
-“A puny demon can't serve as proof.”
I'd grandly declared my atheism.
Used sophistry to lead Muon’s paladins during the update.
A NetTube highlight video summarizing my antics.
Views: a whopping 2.14 billion.
'Wonder if it was worth it...'
Anyway, that embarrassment was finally paying off...!